Chapter Text
A cookie, one exhausted and trembling. Drags himself up and over the last stretch, the last mile, up to the top of the mysterious peak, before he can make it he collapses, unable to continue so he lays there, waiting to regain his energy, sugar water pooling around him.
This cookie is as light a blue as the shadows reflected on ice, as knowledgeable as the great Hall of scholars in the academy, older than even some of the brightest stars in the night sky, but he does not know just how old he is. The last century is all he can remember.
His hair flows as silky and smooth as a cotton candy silk, cocoon dress, with as many stars visible in it as there are in the night sky.
He reminisces on the perilous journey up to where he lay, starting from the beginning of the day.
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He slowly starts making his way up. He is determined, and once he has a goal he will not stop till he reaches it, no matter what.
His most recent goal, find the hermit who lives at the top of the peak, and find out who they are, where they are from, and what are they doing there, that is if he can even make it to the top he supposes.
He left earlier that morning, when the berry birds sang and the farmers rose. The climb was deceptively easy at first, just low hills, and some cream sheep grazing. Some smelled of vanilla, some were pink and their wool smelled of cotton candy, and others were just plain buttercream.
He remarked how there was an abnormal amount of dust..? Weird… covering the ground and swirling in the air, causing the scholar to cough.
As he ascended higher up the peak he came to a flat area, a small wooden hut sitting on the flat ground. In the frame of the door the scholar could see a cookie’s silhouette.
He walked up to the hut, careful not to alarm any of the millions of cream sheep around the cookie. There he tapped the strange cookie on their shoulder. They jumped, spooked, the cookie then turned around pulling something down and over their eyes... and he was a shepherd. But he smelled of vanilla, and even weirder he had bandages covering his eyes.
“Excuse me? Sorry for the scare, but why are you here? Shouldn’t there be no one up here?” the scholar asked the shepherd cookie.
The cookie stumbled away a bit, “ye, yes.” He clutched the staff he had in his hands tightly, the top was of an orchid, yellow in colour, it had a single eye in the center. Perhaps this is how this cookie sees the world, the scholar thinks to himself, but it doesn’t explain the bandages.
But he has no quarrel with this cookie. And so he attempted to go higher.
But before he could get anywhere the cookie suddenly spoke. "I would not go any higher, there is a foul beast who lives up near the top of the peak."
The way this stranger spoke as if he knew what lay at the top, calm and undisturbed, brought a sense of unease to the scholar. “What do you mean, dear stranger?”
The cookie turned, facing the ancient scholar, “all who ventured to the peak before you crumbled, I am here as your second warning. The first was the crumbs of those who rest at the base, finally at peace. I suggest you do not join them.”
This stunned the scholar into silence, stopping him in his tracks. The strange cookie shepherd continued, “the dust that coats the base of the peak is all that remains of them. Or well, those who ventured up to the next section of the peak. No one has ever returned from the top, crumbled or not.”
The scholar stood there shocked before dropping to his knees, a steady stream of tears rolling down his face. Not a sound could be heard other than the quiet, but steady sobs coming from the cookie slumped over on the ground.
“They're all… gone..?” He murmured just barely above a whisper, “...all of them..?”
He turned his head up to look at the shepherd who had come to sit beside him, tears still flowing.
“Only those that continued farther up and did not heed my warning.” the shepherd explained to the sobbing scholar, “those like that merchant… I think they’re name was Crystalline Bamboo Cookie?... in the town who did heed my warning survived, as you can see." The shepherd laid back along the short grass of the patch they sat on, setting the staff down beside himself still.
The scholar sniffled a bit, still obviously upset that he didn’t realize that he was walking through the remains of millions before him. He laid back as well, closing his eyes, cerulean and gold, just… existing in this moment. He remarks how it's sort of peaceful, with the soft in and out of the breathing of the cookie beside him, the heartbeats of the cream sheep grazing around them.
But he has a goal, so he sits up. And turns to the shepherd beside him, wiping his tears away he says, “i- thank you for the warning..” he trails off realizing he never got the shepherd's name, “..er.. What would be your name, kind stranger?”
The shepherd softly laughs before sitting up as well, turning to face the scholar as well, “Did I forget to tell you? I must have.. Re- er, Healer. My name is Healer.”
“Well Healer, thank you for the warning but I must continue on my journey. I just, it just feels wrong to turn back now. So, I will take your warning into consideration, and may the witches bless your fields.” The scholar rises preparing to make his way up to the next level of the peak when the shep- er when Healer stops him.
“Wait here,” Healer quickly hurried to the hut, the scholar noted how he didn't take his staff with him. Perhaps he has this place memorized.
Healer swiftly returned, with something large in hand. He walked up to the scholar, and he could hear the huffs the shepherd let out, obviously exhausted.
Healer hands him a cloak; made with wool from the cream sheep grazing in the fields, dyed a vibrant blue colour with a deeper blue swirling in the pattern from the forget me nots and colossus deep blue blotch pansy flowers that can be found around and in the fields, stars splayed in patterns on the chest and cuffs of the cloak,“Before you go, will you take this with you?”
The scholar feels the length of the cloak, he remarks how soft and warm it is, telling of the love and care put into its creation, “are, are you sure?” the scholar stutters, clearly not expecting such a gift from a cookie he just met.
Healer nods, holding it out to the scholar to take. He takes it and puts it into his pocket dimension, his.. Other realm, to save it for later. “Thank you Healer… I don't know how I could ever repay you.”
“Don’t continue?” Healer offered.
“No, no. Anything but that.” The scholar sighed.
“If that's the case, then nothing except for you to survive.” Healer sounded defeated, obviously unable to shake the scholar's resolve. “Actually, could you tell me your name?”
“Why of course! Such bad manners of me to not have introduced myself beforehand!” The scholar exclaimed, “I, my dear, am The-!”
The wind howled, loud enough to shock the scholar. “My, my, that wind sure is loud! Anyways I must be off now! It was such a nice time meeting you, Healer.”
He started up the peak once more, as he was ascending healer before completely getting out of earshot and started, “it was nice meeting you too…” but the scholar left earshot before he could hear the rest of Healer's sentence.